A little levity is in order, after last week's serious and conflicting themes.
One of the pictures is Bernie Stolar and one is Robert Englund (played
Freddy Krueger on Nightmare on Elm Street). I seriously can't tell
the difference. Yes that's right, even from his grave as CEO, Stolar's
powers have extended into our Q&A.

A little announcement before we begin. I decided to revert my Q&A
format, to the old format that we've used in the past. Where I will
be cutting into letters and answering. From what you readers have
expressed, this is especially helpful, at least, easier to read
letters with numbered questions. It also seems to add a more interactive
feel to it. Hope you like it, as I do.

1) Where would be a good place to buy soundtracks
over the web besides gamecave.com? I love video game music, and
I want to hear the EB soundtrack.. the music is awesome!

JD:
Gamemusic.com is probably the best one that I know of. Lunar EB's
soundtrack can be best described as "majestic." I can't
wait to see what Iwadare has done for the PSX version.

2) Is Lunar: EB going to be a complete remix in american?
I have it in Japan, and it only comes with playing disks.. any help?
What about Lunar: Magic School? I've heard about it on gamefaqs.com,
and this site but nothing.. whats that game about? Is it good?

Yes. Victor Ireland of Working Designs, stated that it would
come with a Soundtrack CD and Making of CD as well. As far as Lunar
Magic School from what I remember Victor said it was no good. Some
of the readers here disagree, but I have not played it myself.

3) Is there a way to get Schala in CT? I dunno how
many times I tried..Any help?

Not to my knowledge.

4) Your column rules.. also, by the way, Do you think
the Lunar: SSSC soundtrack was better than the Lunar:SS soundtrack?
I loves the SSSC soundtrack, but I want to find an OSV for it..
any help there? Well, thanks for listening JD. Peace out Cub scout.

-Super Sai-jinn Gokuu

That's a tough one, each had its redeeming qualities. I believe
gamecave.com has the OSV, when I checked weeks ago. Or just buy
the Sega CD game at Ebay.com or Funcoland.com. The songs in the
game are in Redbook/CD Audio, so you can listen to it with any CD
player.

Cursing
in Q&A

Hi, again. Enjoy your weekend? Good. Well now it's time to get
of your lazy rump and....sit on it again and spend 4 hours making
a letters column. (Damn, that didn't work the way I wanted it too.)
On to the questions!

1.) I heard FFIX (9 already? Holy S***!) will have a more fantasy
setting. Is this true? I guess I prefer it. (I ain't sure, really.)

JD:Do I have to? I so enjoy just chillin' out and being lazy.I'll be honest.
While this is just a rumor, I don't know if I like the idea. Since
FF 4 the games have drastically changed time line wise, into a more
high tech world. As with most rumors, I hold very little stock in
it.

2.) FF6's main character was Terra (Earth.) FF7 was Cloud (Wind.)
FF8 was Squall (Water.) HMmm, notice a trend? Also, FF6 dealt a
lot with walking (a lot of walking.) In FF7, you did quite a bit
of flying (the Highwind was the path to almost every secret.) In
FF8, well the demo shows all sorts of aquatic stuff. Hwat does all
this mean? Actually, I'm not really sure.

Interesting.....

3.) How much profanity is too much? (Please bleep out whenever
necessary.) Is it ok to say crap, damn and hell? But not s&*^
and f@#$? How about b%^&*? Bastard? Ok, how much is usable.
Can I say "Crap, this sucks." But not "F%^& you, you god damned
son of a b#$%^!

(Snip...And more cussing.....)

Ok, I'm just kidding about that, but seriously, what's ok for the
column? Actually, that paragraph probably contained way too much
profanity. Oh well. Adios!

-Mike Dore

Generally, most if not all bad words are avoided here.

Grandia,
Thousand Arms and Anime

Hey JD, Just a quick question or two, involving no opinions at
all for the sake of overdone controversy (Was everyone arguing about
FF2 when FF3 came out...?) Well anyway, here they are:

1) Uuuuh, when does Grandia come out in the U.S.? The area for
it in the Games section says "08.16.99" and doesn't have a Japan
marker thing like the date for the Saturn release does. So.. does
that mean it came out.. like.. today? O_o

JD:
Gamestop.com (formerly Gamelord.com) lists it for October 26 '99.
Sony has done a horrendous job marketing this game, with flimsy
release dates to boot. I wish Working Designs published this game,
sigh...at least it'll ship by end of the millenium. :)
The good news is, looks like Sony really wants to propp up the RPG.
Grandia List price = $39.

2) Do you think Thousand Arms will be a worthwhile buy? I need
some games besides FF8 (which is still for a while yet). I haven't
looked at it a -whole- lot but all anime-settings rock, sooooo.

I'm buying it. Atlus even quotes what one of our previewers
said, "...a top-notch mixture of visuals, audio, and story-line."
- RPGamer.
Other respectable game sources, such as Gamers Republic and Gamefan
are also giving it glowing reviews.

3) On the topic of anime, do you know of any other games that will
be doing much of it the way Lunar and Xenogears were? With an anime
artist doing the original CT artwork, I think just about everyone
would love to see Chrono Cross with anime clips instead of CG. *sigh*
Oh well. I'll buy it anyway. ^_^

-Derek Thompson

Wild Arms 2 and Lunar 2 come to mind. If I'm not mistaken, also
the heavenly Langrisser Millenium.

Opinion
on FFA US CD Case

Hey Jane doe

That is the weakest cover I have ever seen. A sword with Roman
numerals on the sides. No characters or anything on it. I'm a big
square fan but what group of posers works in their cover art dept.

-Shaffpad

JD:
Don't hurt me...But it doesn't strike my fancy. It....is...simple
at least. (image of FFA US Cover at the end of the column)

Beating
the Dead Horse - Die bastard

**FF 7 Spolier Warning**

Hey JD

i tottaly agree with Arakageeta statment about final fantasy and
how it is getting deeper. I've played every final fantasy realeased
to the united states (including the hacked version of ff5) and if
you play them all right in a row, they do get deeper as the go on.
I mean not only in feelings and all, but the love that each character
has for the other. For eg. in FF7 the fact that Cloud carried Aries's
body to the pool to lay her to rest in the lake, by himself, shows
how much he cared for her well being and the love he had for her.
i mean sure they felt bad and all, but they just don't show it in
the same way as they did here. Of course the CG movie helped and
i belive thats why people shouldn't yell at square for doing that
kind of stuff. By using the that movie you could see the worry free
smile of Areis's face as Sepheroth's Sameri blade ripped through
her life giving heart,just as she made her wish on the White Materia.
I also don't think people relized that she gave up her life for
the living, not only the people but every living, breathing thing
whether it was good or evil. Just to wrap this up i would like to
put this question in people's mind, would you willingly give up
your life as she did, not know whether your wish would be granted
or not?

-Ryan McLaughlin

JD:
As you all probably know by now, yes I do believe the story in the
FF series have improved. At least Square is finally exploring a
more grown up plot. The idea of a love story as the premise of FF8
plot line, sounds too intriguing. It'll certainly be one of the more
interesting conversations this year, whether or not Square is really
evolving for the better or worse.

12-18
year old Set

JD

Though it may seem like I'm jumping on a bandwagon here, I looked
at Shadowburn's letter from yesterday and thought "Hmm, good points."
Then I read your response to it and laughed (as you often make me
do) and figured I should speak out.

I'm in the 12-18 group category and people tell me I'm pretty smart.

JD:
You surely must be talking to the wrong people? :P
(Kidding)

Thus, when I play an RPG, I appreciate any good graphics/cinema
it might have, while at the same time trying to find and appreciate
plot (which made Xenogears great for me-- even though the dubbing
was terrible). I like older games too, and find them equally fun.
For example after finishing Star Ocean 2, to fill the void in my
gaming world, I picked up Breath of Fire 2 and Chrono Trigger again.
I'm also an AD&D Dungeon Master, liking the opportunity to create
my own world after playing through the ones offered by console RPGs.

In answer to your "Our age group actually has brains?" I'd like
to say that unfortunately most of those in our group don't,

You got that right. :)

and
these are the kind of people who mostly write in to Q&A and Editorial
columns and make us sound stupid. Rest assured I'm not one of those
people. Anyway, since this is a Q&A column I should some questions--

Would you recommend Lunar: SSSC? If so, where can I get it? I can't
find it anywhere. Thanks for your time and sorry for sounding so
stiff and irritated.

-Chris

Good points. I think the stereotyping really must end, ie.(Canada
vs US, 12-18 year olds being unimaginative or idiots). Well maybe
not the last one. ;)
As far as Lunar SSSC, I devoted 2 weekend Q&A/Columns to it,
so yes it's one hell of a game. It Definitely is in the top 5 RPGs
this year. Not to mention, Lunar 2 is just around the bend, and
to appreciated this legend of a game you need to know the story
of Lunar SSSC. Can't find it anywhere? No Walmart or Toys R US,
at least? As a last resort, you could always order directly from
Working Designs.

Dreamcast
Media Size

Hi jd,

You made a mistake when responding to S. Pustinger's letter. You
said a DC disc holds 1 Gig. While it is called a GD-ROM, or Gigadisc-ROM,
it holds 1.2 gigs, or 1200 megs. Just a little correction, bye!

In your face, bite me, eat it!!.......Just kidding, but there
you have it.

9.9.99
- FF 8 vs Dreamcast?

how do you think ff8 will fare since it is being released on the
same day as dreamcast

-gabe ricard

JD: Many have asked me this question in recent days. I honestly don't
know what all the hoopla surrounding this is all about. In a recent
survey it showed, those who are getting a Dreamcast on 9.9.99 will
be spending on average $300-400. People who could afford this can
surely pay for FF8. Conversely those who can't get many games a year
will get FF8, and save up for either Dreamcast or PSX2 for the future.
So I don't really project each cutting into sales figures.

I was looking at the the cover of FFA, to notice that it has a TEEN rating!
What the hell is with that?? Aren't they leaving the game the same way
it was years ago? Although there weren't ratings back then, it was designed
for younger kids!! Everything has a teen rating now........

Something
is very wrong, when a story and dialogue, fitting for 5 year olds, gets
a teen rating...Stranger and stranger. Don't even flame me you FF fanatics,
it was a joke. Plus I have my fire extinguisher here.

Hey JD,
Something I just noticed... people who flame incessantly are flamers.
Sound right to you?
-Chris

Yes and
I also noticed, people who write idiotic letters are idiots. :P

I bet you a million dollars that this letter will not get printed.
-The Cat in the hat

I'll be
expecting the wire transfer.

JD, "Poor Tom Green. His Bum is all alone." ...er... I'm not gonna touch
that one with a 50 foot pole...
-Ari

Neither
am I. But for those who asked, the mp3 of that song is distributed freely
at mtv.com or tomgreen.com. Why some of you want it? I haven't the foggiest.

Here is the US FFA CD Cover. Looks...uh simple doesn't it? Although
my friend swears that it is brilliant....

Special thanks once again to Alpha, one of the devoted readers of
the RPGamer column, and message boards/irc chat, for donating his Lunar
and Star Ocean quotes, for use in the secret message.

Lastly did you ever want to chat about RPGs 24 hours a day? Talk to us RPGamer staffers? Discuss the latest in videogame music with Mark and I, Art with Lorelai, Crap at Brad for not updating Editorials? (J/K!) Or even discuss the latest politics of today. If so, read our RPGamer IRC FAQ. A warning to the wise however, lameness is not accepted or tolerated, so read the rules carefully.